Overreacting

There is much controversy over commercials and advertisements of how some of them may portray racial stereotypes. Recently, DirecTV had made a decision to take down its commercial from its YouTube channel due to the supposedly “stereotypes” that were in it. You might have seen the ad, where there is a boxer explaining all the benefits of subscribing to DirecTV while his entourage chimes in, reassuring him that he is correct. If you have not seen it here it is:   

     The commercial was pulled off of Direct TV’s channel because of the reactions viewers had. Even though there were a few viewers that understand that this commercial is nothing more than a comedy piece, many believed there was a reinforcing racial and violent vibe coming from the advertiser.
     Due to society today there is no argument that this type of accusation has grown a bit touchy to the public. However there is a limit of being too sensitive with the subject, especially if there is nothing to be concerned about. If just one person out of a million is able to see a stereotype in an ad or any other form of mass media, then it’s there. If it wasn’t, no one would be able to recognize it. The people at Direct TV wouldn’t have intentionally put out racist commercial because in the end it would hurt their business.
     The stereotypes argued in the commercial were about how the black man was shown as a boxer, and how the child punched the butler for no reason. To make the black man a boxer, one of the most brutal professions out there, reinforces stereotypes of black men as violent people. To have the child in the ad punch the butler encourages this belief by saying, “They are violent from birth and are only fit to participate in activities advocating such behavior.”
     People are overreacting over nothing. They always find a way to see how something could be depicted as racial. People always complain of how the African American race is not shown in the media, and this is why. They’ve made something so small into something so big. In the end they are only hurting themselves because now Direct TV and other companies might not want to put African Americans in there commercials seeing the reactions of people.


Gianatasio, David. "DirecTV Pulls New Ad From YouTube After Debate Turns 'R- Rated'"      Adweek. 07 July 2011. Web. 16 Feb. 2012. <http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/directv-           pulls-new-ad-youtube-after-debate-turns-r-rated-133241>.